How to Attract Bluehaired Monks
by chikki1
Summary: Chiriko plays matchmaker! (well, sort of anyway. ^^;) YAOI (Tas/Chi)
1. part one

HOW TO ATTRACT BLUE-HAIRED MONKS (1/?)  
BY : Chikki 

Warnings Tasuki has a _VERY_ impressive vocabulary of official "bandit" words, no da…so it's PG 13 for swearing…oh…and some yaoi too,na no da. (^_^)  
Disclaimer Not mine. Never will be,na no da.   
  
  
  


Chiriko grinned to himself and looked out the window.   
  
It was barely dawn and the only hint of the sun was the soft glow of light on the horizon.   
  
He smiled again.  
  
Barely dawn…but he knew that Tasuki was already awake, however uncharacteristic that may sound.  
  
Quietly, the green-eyed seishi slipped into his shoes and made his way towards the bandit's room. Chiriko glanced around and smiled once more as he slowed down his pace a little. He loved early mornings. Everything was always so quiet…it was as if the palace itself had taken refuge in the stillness to escape the hustle and bustle of everyday life.  
  
When he got to the corner just before Tasuki's room, Chiriko paused and listened for any sounds coming from within. Sure enough, he could hear the other seishi moving about.  
  
Forcing down the fit of giggles that were threatening to escape at any moment, Chiriko hastily ran ahead and hid behind one of the many pillars lining up the corridor.  
  
He listened intently for any more sounds that may be coming from the bandit.  
  
A short while later, the hidden seishi heard the sound of a door being opened, and the soft "click" it made as it was closed. He held his breath. Any moment now…  
  
Tasuki's booted feet made no sound as the young brigand began to walk towards Chiriko.  
  
"One…" Chiriko counted under his breath.  
  
The beaded necklace that Tasuki has been fastening around his neck fell to the ground and Chiriko could hear the muffled curse the bandit made as he picked it up.  
  
"Two…"  
  
The bandit's pace was quickening. It seemed as though he was really in a hurry to get to wherever he was planning to go. Chiriko stifled a chortle before composing himself and concentrated on the task at hand.  
  
"Three!!!" Acting fast, Chiriko jumped out of his hiding place and landed right in front of Tasuki. "WAIIIIYAAAAA!!!!" he yelled, making the scariest face he could muster.  
  
"AHHHHHHHH!!!!" Tasuki exclaimed and backpedaled several paces. "WHAT THE HELL…?!?!?….REKKA!…."  
  
Chiriko waved his hands frantically over his face, trying to get Tasuki's attention. "Matte! Matte, Tasuki-san! It's me! Chiriko!"  
  
But Tasuki was far too panicked to recognize the younger seishi. "….SHINEN!!!"  
  
Flame burst forth from the tessen and Chiriko scrambled out of the way. "ITAI! ATSUI!"  
  
When all the smoke and flames had thinned out, Tasuki peered at Chiriko , now sprawled out on the floor. "Chiriko?…That you?"  
  
Chiriko rolled his eyes at him and nodded. "Hai, Tasuki-san…and thank you very much for almost frying me back there…"  
  
Tasuki's amber eyes widened and he hastily helped Chiriko up.  
  
"Gomen nasai, Chiriko!" he said. "Gomen! Gomen! I am such a damned idiot sometimes! Well…maybe not sometimes…okay, all the time, but that's beside the point! I am SO sorr---" Suddenly, Tasuki paused and glared at Chiriko. "Hey…now wait just a fuckin' minute! Why the hell am I apologizing?! YOU should be doing that, not me! What the fuck did you think you were doin' , jumpin' out of nowhere and scarin' the hell outta me like that?! You can't do that! It's fuckin' illegal or something!"  
  
"No it's not, Tasuki-san…" Chiriko stated cheerfully. "I checked with the scrolls in the library before scaring you."  
  
Tasuki sweatdropped. "Errr…yeah. Right. Whatever." He turned around and began walking towards the other direction. "What the hell are 'ya doin' up so early, anyway?" he asked.  
  
The younger seishi beamed at him. "I always wake up at this hour, Tasuki-san! Besides…" he grinned mischievously at the bandit. "I wanted to keep you company while you watch Chichiri-san meditating today." He laughed at the look on Tasuki's face.  
  
"N-nani?!?" Tasuki exclaimed. "What do you mean?!"  
  
Chiriko laughed again as he noticed the faint blush that had begun to stain the other's cheeks. "…and don't think that I haven't seen you sneaking off every morning to spy on him, Tasuki-san…"  
  
Tasuki's head whipped around sharply to face him. "Why?"  
  
Eyes twinkling, Chiriko smiled sweetly at him. "Because I have."  
  
Tasuki's eyes widened further and the blush on his face grew deeper. "Well…shit…"  
  
"So can I come with you, Tasuki-san?" Chiriko pleaded. "Onegai! Onegai! Can I? Puleeezzze~?!"  
  
"WHAT?!" Tasuki exclaimed, blinking unbelievingly several times before continuing. "What do you want to come with me for?!"  
  
"AH-HAH!" the other seishi pointed out triumphantly. "So you _DO_ admit that you have been spying on him!!"  
  
Tasuki glared at him and looked away. "Maybe." he said, looking down at the floor without much interest.  
  
If anything, this little revelation only seemed to excite Chiriko even more. "Really, really?!? Do you love him, Tasuki-san? Have you told him already? When you do, are you going to kiss him? Oooohh! I know! You're going to give him a present! What are you going to give him, Tasuki-san?"  
  
Tasuki's face was as red as his hair by the time Chiriko had finished firing questions at him. "WHAT?!?!"  
  
Chiriko clapped his hands. "Are you going to marry him and bring him back to Mt. Leikaku with you to live happily ever after?" he asked joyously. "Maybe you can ask Taiits-kun to find some way to let the both of you have a child! I could do some research in the library…"  
  
"NO!" Tasuki snapped automatically.  
  
"I don't believe you!" Chiriko shot back.  
  
The bandit placed a finger on his chin and thought about it. After a while, he said wistfully "That would be nice…."  
  
Chiriko grinned at him. "So, shall we be going now, Tasuki-san?"  
  
Tasuki looked at Chiriko. "Well, so long as 'ya promise not to make any noise…"  
  
"Hai!"  
  
"Okay then…let's go."

To be continued...  
  
  



	2. part two

HOW TO ATTRACT BLUE-HAIRED MONKS (2/?)  
BY : Chikki 

Warnings Tasuki has a _VERY_ impressive vocabulary of official "bandit" words, no da…so it's PG 13 for swearing…oh…and some yaoi too,na no da. (^_^)  
Disclaimer Not mine. Never will be,na no da.   
  
  
  


"Tasuki-san…" Chiriko whined and rolled his eyes.  
  
"SHHHH!" hissed the bandit and placed a finger on his lips. "I told you to keep quiet, dammit! He's going to hear!"  
  
Chiriko turned a weary gaze to Chichiri, who was sitting a few feet away and was completely oblivious to the fact that he was being watched very intensely by a certain red-haired bandit.  
  
He sighed again.  
  
Both he and Tasuki were currently being hidden by some shrubbery, and Tasuki had spent the entire time staring at Chichiri. They have been staying in the same position for roughly an hour or so, and Chiriko was beginning to feel bored and restless.  
  
Chiriko stuck his tongue out at Tasuki. "You can't make me keep quiet, Tasuki-san!"  
  
Tasuki tore his gaze away from the monk's still meditating figure and glared at the younger seishi. "Shut up! Or do 'ya want me to roast 'ya again with my fan?"  
  
"It's called a tessen, Tasuki-san."  
  
"Tessen, fan…whatever." The bandit said, a hint of annoyance in his voice. "…but if you don't stop talking in the next few minutes, I'm going to use this fan…"  
  
"Tessen, Tasuki-san." Chiriko put in.  
  
"WHATEVER!" Tasuki exasperatedly. "I'm going to use it to burn you!"  
  
"Demo…that would be child abuse!"  
  
"No, it won't." Tasuki said, smirking. "It would be teachin' you good manners!"  
  
Chiriko's eyes began to well up with tears. "You…you would actually do that to me, Tasuki-san?"  
  
Tasuki smacked his forehead and groaned. "Aw, dammit, Chiriko! Don't start cryin' now! Besides…it was YOU who kept bugging me about wanting to come along anyway!"  
  
Sniffing, Chiriko looked down. "Gomen ne, Tasuki-san…you're right. It's just that I'm getting bored! Nothing's happening!"  
  
Tasuki's face , which , until then had held an expression of happiness and contentment, suddenly turned into a look of darkness.   
  
"Hn." He said, bitterly turning away.  
  
"Tasuki-san?" Chiriko asked tentatively.  
  
"Of course, nothing's happening." Tasuki said with a forced laugh, trying to be nonchalant about it and failing. "What else did you expect?"   
  
Chiriko frowned as he silently regarded the seishi before him.  
  
The silence stretched between the two, Tasuki fidgeting nervously before Chiriko finally pulled his gaze away.  
  
"I just thought that today would be the day, that's all." Chiriko stated.  
  
Tasuki turned to look at him. "The day? What the hell does that mean?"  
  
Chiriko's eyes held some sort of mischievous sternness as he observed his fellow seishi. "Well, seeing that you have been continuously spying and stalking Chichiri-san for approximately five months, three weeks and two days, I assumed that you would finally muster up the courage to go and finally talk to him about it today."  
  
"WHAT THE FUCK?!"   
  
"In fact…" Chiriko continued, ignoring the bandit's outburst. "It is precisely because of this reason that I made the decision to come with you today."  
  
Tasuki had still not gotten over the initial shock. "YOU'VE BEEN KEEPING TRACK?!?"  
  
"Of course!" the young scholar said cheerfully. "I try my best to keep a careful record of monitoring the palace's activities!"  
  
"But! Well…damn…aww, shit!" Tasuki struggled to get his breathing under control.   
  
When he thought that he could speak again, he turned a venomous glance towards Chiriko and asked in a voice that was dangerously calm. "But if you've been keeping track of the palace activities…"  
  
"Which includes you…" Chiriko said cheerfully.  
  
Tasuki winced, but let it pass. "Which includes me…"  
  
Nodding happily, Chiriko drew himself to his full height, proud that Tasuki was actually having a conversation with him that held a touch of seriousness and importance.  
  
The bandit sweatdropped. "Then that means that you know about the time I got drunk in the palace tavern…"  
  
"…and painted Chichiri-san's face on every sake bottle that you drained." Chiriko said, smiling and giving him the victory sign.  
  
Tasuki's face began to pale visibly. Just how MUCH did this kid know about his infatuation with Chichiri?! He composed himself before leveling his gaze with Chiriko's again. "…and you know about the time I went to the library…"  
  
Chiriko grinned at him. "…to research about everything about Chichiri, ranging from the location of his constellation up to the derivation of his name."  
  
"SHIT!" Tasuki yelled , drawing away and pounding his fist into the ground.  
  
"Tasuki-san…" Chiriko said. "Do try to tune down your voice. Chichiri-san might hear you."  
  
"Why do you even care?!" Tasuki demanded, his face turning red.  
  
"Because I want to know how you're going to tell him."  
  
Tasuki was not satisfied with this answer. "WHY?"  
  
Chiriko blushed and looked away. "Because sooner or later, I'm going to find the person that I would want to spend the rest of my life with and I want to know how to be able to handle the situation when it comes."  
  
Tasuki looked like he had just swallowed a bowl full of Miaka's cooking. "Chiriko?"  
  
"…and who better to learn all these things then from one's onii-chan?" Chiriko said simply, still not meeting Tasuki's gaze.  
  
It was Tasuki's turn to blush as he stared disbelievingly at the younger seishi.   
  
"Aww, Chiriko!" he said finally, face breaking into a fanged grin bursting with pride. "Don't worry about it! You'll do just fine"  
  
"Arigato, Tasuki-san." Chiriko replied. Then, the mischievousness came back into his eyes as he nodded knowingly towards Chichiri. "What are you going to do about him?"  
  
The smile wiped off Tasuki's face in an instant and he looked down, grumbling. "Nothing."  
  
"Oh no, you're not!" Chiriko insisted. "You are going to go do something about this, Tasuki-san!"  
  
"No." Tasuki countered, shaking his head stubbornly.  
  
Chiriko decided to try a new tactic. Reverse Psychology! He grinned. "I know! You're scared…"  
  
"Hell, no!" the other seishi said with more force then intended.  
  
"Then why won't you talk to him?" Chiriko said smugly.  
  
Tasuki decided to answer with silence.  
  
"I mean…" Chiriko reasoned out. "How different could it be to talking with him everyday?"  
  
Tasuki shrugged. "He probably doesn't feel the same way, anyway…"  
  
"How would you know until you made sure of it?"  
  
Tasuki fixed Chiriko with a cat-like gaze. "What do you mean?"  
  
Chiriko lay on his back and looked up at the sky. "The fact that Chichiri-san does not like males in the way that you do is still a theory. It has not yet been proven, Tasuki-san."  
  
"Really?" Tasuki asked hopefully.  
  
"Yes. Besides, I think that you actually have a chance, as idiotic as that may sound." Chiriko giggled and stuck his tongue out at the bandit.   
  
Sticking his tongue back out at him, Tasuki shifted his gaze to Chichiri. "But how do I go about it?"  
  
"I have no idea, Tasuki-san." Chiriko said solemnly, although it was quite obvious that he was threatening to break out with laughter. "I am here to learn from you. You're the expert now."  
  
Tasuki's face brightened. "Hey! That's right!" Smiling, he picked Chiriko up and sat him on a rock that had a good view of the clearing in which Chichiri sat, still lost in meditation.   
  
He wagged a finger in front of Chiriko's face, laughing when the younger seishi's eyes crossed. "Now observe carefully!" he told Chiriko.   
  
Tasuki stood up and made his way towards Chichiri. He looked back at Chiriko and winked slyly. "This is how you charm a kawaii little blue-haired monk."  
  
Chiriko laughed and watched as the bandit drew closer and closer to Chichiri.

To be continued...  
  
  



	3. part three

HOW TO ATTRACT BLUE-HAIRED MONKS (3/?)  
BY : Chikki 

Warnings Tasuki has a _VERY_ impressive vocabulary of official "bandit" words, no da…so it's PG 13 for swearing…oh…and some yaoi too,na no da. (^_^)  
Disclaimer Not mine. Never will be,na no da.   
  
  
  


Chichiri sighed as he shifted the position of his legs so that they wouldn't get cramps. He had been meditating ever since the sun had risen, and he was beginning to feel drained.   
  
The monk looked down as he rubbed the back of his neck. Yup…he was feeling drained, all right. Of course, maybe he wouldn't feel so exhausted if he hadn't spent all of last night making sure that Tasuki didn't get into TOO much trouble. The bandit had decided that last night was a very good night to get drunk. But…  
  
The seishi smiled wistfully as he recalled some of the moments that had made the previous night so memorable….Tasuki running around without a shirt on…Chichiri's eye glazed over slightly.  
  
"Ahhh!" said an amused voice behind him. "Thinking of Tasuki-san again, I see!"  
  
Chichiri spun his head around and saw Chiriko standing behind him. The monk grinned sheepishly, embarrassed at having been caught thinking about the young bandit, by Chiriko of all people.  
  
Chiriko watched as the older seishi placed his mask over his face. He really found it such a shame that the monk needed to hide from his fellow seishi. This was one of the reasons why the child genius was so anxious to see Tasuki and Chichiri get together. He was certain that if anyone could convince the quiet monk to shed his mask, it would be Tasuki.  
  
"Ohayo, Chiriko no da!" Chichiri said cheerfully.  
  
"Ohayo, Chichiri-san." The young seishi replied politely. Internally, he grimaced. This was another thing that bothered him about the monk. Why did he put on a fake act for everyone to witness? He sighed and decided to dismiss the matter for now.   
  
Chiriko sat down beside the monk and arranged his hands neatly on his lap. "So…" he said, not looking at the older seishi. "What particular attribute of Tasuki-san were you imagining just now?"  
  
Chichiri blushed as very graphical pictures of Tasuki's "attributes" flashed through his mind. "Da?" he asked, sweatdropping severely.   
  
It was not the fact that Chiriko knew about his interest in the young brigand that bothered him. What bothered Chichiri was the fact that he had been caught thinking about Tasuki again. This was happening far too many times already…and it was usually Chiriko who caught him in the act.  
  
The monk faced Chiriko who was still looking at him expectantly. Chichiri cleared his throat nervously. "Well, no da…I was just thinking about the hangover Tasuki-kun would be getting this morning no da…"  
  
Chiriko raised an eyebrow disbelievingly at him.  
  
Chichiri knew that his fellow seishi was not buying his story but he continued, anyway. "…He was really drunk last night, na no da. So I assume he probably won't be up until noon today, no da."  
  
"And this bothers you because…?" Chiriko prompted.  
  
The blue-haired monk refused to meet Chiriko's reproachful gaze. "Well, I was hoping that he would assist me in some…uh…new spells I need to learn, no da."  
  
"Well, why don't you just ask him now?"  
  
"Da? What do you mean, no da? He's probably not awake yet, no da."  
  
Laughing, Chiriko gestured across the clearing where Tasuki's flame red hair stood out quite prominently. "Why don't you just ask him now?" Chiriko asked again.   
  
There was a few moments of silence before Chiriko noticed that Chichiri was staring hungrily at Tasuki.   
  
"Oi! Stop drooling over Tasuki-san!" he said teasingly.   
  
Chichiri snapped out of the daze he was in and blushed slightly, though the mask hid it quite well. "Umm…I better not, no da."  
  
Chiriko sighed. He thought that Reverse Psychology worked especially well among children only. That was why he had tried it on Tasuki….but he never thought for a moment that he would have to do it on Chichiri. "Why?" he asked.  
  
"Because he probably has something important to do, no da. Tasuki-kun would not get up so early in the morning especially after a night of drinking if he didn't have something really important to do,na no da." Chichiri answered smoothly. Almost as if he had planned out what he was going to say.  
  
Chiriko looked at the monk in glee. "And you know this because…?"  
  
Chichiri glared at Chiriko. "I just do, no da. Tasuki-kun is my friend, of course."  
  
Smiling innocently, Chiriko looked up at the older seishi. "A friend, Chichiri-san?"  
  
"Hai." Said Chichiri, shooting Chiriko a look that promised pain if the young seishi was to question his relationship with Tasuki any further.  
  
The young seishi got the message and looked at Tasuki. "Well, something seems to be wrong with him…"  
  
Chichiri instantly forgot about the present topic and glanced anxiously at the bandit. "Da? What is wrong, no da?"   
  
Tasuki was standing there, not moving, a spacy expression on his face.  
  
Chiriko laughed. "I think Tasuki-san had too much to drink last night."  
  
Chichiri immediately stood up. "I'm going to go see what's wrong, no da." The monk began to stride towards the bandit at a brisk space.  
  
Only when the monk was out of hearing range did Chiriko allow himself to laugh out loud.  
  
  
  
Tasuki wiped his hands nervously on his coat. "Damn." he thought. He had never felt so nervous in his entire life. This was worse than the time Kouji convinced him to…he shook his head fiercely. No.  
  
Now was not the time to dwell on his naivety in the past. There were more important things at hand.  
  
Specifically? A certain kawaii blue-haired monk who managed to speed up his heart rate by so much, he was sure he would die from excessive exposure to Chichiri before this whole summoning ordeal was over.  
  
Speaking of which…he looked up. A short distance away, he could see Chichiri, still oblivious to his presence. Tasuki cringed. He did not want to do this. He did not want to do this. He really did not want to do this…  
  
But unfortunately…he had an audience. Grimacing, he snuck a quick glance behind him and saw Chiriko grinning at him. The bandit sweatdropped at the confident smirk his younger comrade flashed in his direction.   
  
The red-haired seishi watched in confusion as Chiriko began climbing down the rock he had placed him on and started walking away.   
  
In uncertainty, Tasuki raised an eyebrow at Chiriko before shrugging it off. If Chiriko had decided to change his mind about watching Tasuki, then he wasn't going to do anything about it. At least, if Chiriko wasn't going to watch him make a fool out of himself in front of Chichiri, then he didn't have much reason to be nervous anymore!  
  
He steeled himself and took a deep breath. Okay. I can do this, I can do this, I can do this…  
  
After a few long moments of debating with himself, he glanced at Chichiri again. His eyes widened when he saw that the monk was now talking to Chiriko and he stopped in fear. What was the young seishi telling Chichiri? The bandit slumped, defeated. No, I can't. I can't do it. 'specially now that Chiriko's right there, talkin' to him.  
  
Tasuki was about to turn away and head back to the palace to get roaring drunk when suddenly…  
  
"Oi, Tasuki-kun no da!"  
  
Tasuki froze in place and closed his eyes, letting the voice spin around his head. It was as if the heavens had opened up and an angel was calling him. An angel with blue hair that defied gravity to be exact. He knew he had a goofy smile on his face right now, but he couldn't care less.   
  
In his mind, said angel was giggling at Tasuki as he shyly placed his hands around Tasuki's waist. The bandit's mind raced with fleeting thoughts as he let himself sink deeper into his daydream.   
  
"TASUKI-KUN, NO DAAAA!" Tasuki's eyes snapped open and found himself staring straight into SD Chichiri's face.  
  
"AHHHH!" Tasuki yelled, startled at seeing Chichiri's face so close to his own. He cursed as his hand hit a tree in his panic. He groaned and slid to the ground. Did angels come in SD form too?  
  
SD Chichiri gasped and rushed over to where Tasuki was crouching, nursing his hand. "Gomen ne, Tasuki-kun ,no da! Here, let me help you up, na no da…" The SD monk hastily held out a hand to Tasuki.  
  
Tasuki looked up at Chichiri, who was now in normal size and smiled in amusement. SD angels? He got a mental image of an SD Chichiri with wings and a halo. He grinned, exposing overgrown canines. Yup…there sure were.

To be continued...  
  
  



	4. part four

HOW TO ATTRACT BLUE-HAIRED MONKS (4/?)  
BY : Chikki 

Sorry this took so long, na no da. (^_^;) 

Warnings Tasuki has a _VERY_ impressive vocabulary of official "bandit" words, no da…so it's PG 13 for swearing…oh…and some yaoi too,na no da. (^_^)  
Disclaimer Not mine. Never will be,na no da.   
  
  
  
  
"Tasuki-kun?" Chichiri asked worriedly. "Are you okay, no da?"  
  
Tasuki laughed, stood up and brushed off his coat, all the while never taking his eyes from Chichiri's face. "Yeah, I'm fine, 'Chiri. You just startled me, that's all."  
  
With a scandalized gasp from the embarrassed monk, there was a poof and the bandit soon found himself surrounded by six or seven SD Chichiri's, all of them rushing around him and yelling "Gomen ne, Tasuki-kun, no da!" in their little high-pitched voices.  
  
Laughing again, Tasuki picked up one of the SD's, the others watching him intently as he lightly ruffled the bangs of the SD Chichiri that he held in his hands. He chuckled. "Nah, you didn't do anything wrong. It's okay. Really."  
  
The SD Chichiri that the bandit held in his hands blushed simultaneously with the other SD Chichiri's and wriggled out of his grasp. Tasuki watched in amusement as there was another puff of smoke and Chichiri, still blushing and now in normal size, emerged from it. "Hai, no da." Inside, the monk was racking his brains on how to ask Tasuki to come sit with him and Chiriko without seeming too desperate.  
  
"I should get going now…I still have a fuckin' huge hangover from last night." Chichiri looked up to see Tasuki smiling at him nervously. He smiled sadly. Tasuki would never want to spend time with him. Chichiri sighed and studied the scenery behind Tasuki.  
  
"Chichiri?"  
  
The devastated monk looked up. "Da?"  
  
"You okay? You look…pale." Tasuki said, brushing his hand lightly on the other's cheek. "Are 'ya sick or something?"  
  
At that, Chichiri's face instantly transformed from being pale to a dark shade of tomato red. He shook his head slightly. "Iya, no da. I'm not sick, na no da."  
  
"You sure?" the younger seishi asked, frowning, as he brought his other hand up to cup Chichiri's face. "Now your face is all flushed. I think you're coming down with a fever."  
  
Chichiri blushed even more and broke away. "Iya, Tasuki-kun. I'm fine, really I am." As if to prove his point, his face returned into its normal color again.  
  
Tasuki watched him, guilt written all over his handsome features. 'Damn.' He thought. 'He must have gotten that fever when he stayed up last night to make sure I didn't do anything stupid while I was getting drunk!' He slapped himself mentally. 'I am such a goddamned fucking baka!'  
  
The young bandit looked past the other's shoulder and saw Chiriko watching them intently, a mischievous look on his impish face. When the youngest seishi noticed that Tasuki was looking at him, the grin on his face grew even wider and he gestured towards the oblivious monk that Tasuki was talking to.   
  
Tasuki stuck his tongue out at him and made a face. "NO." he mouthed.  
  
The shorter seishi stood up on the rock that he had been sitting on and glared at Tasuki. He made a face as well. Chiriko shook his head and pointed to Chichiri again. "YES!" Chiriko mouthed back.  
  
"Tasuki-kun, no da?"  
  
The red-haired seishi turned and saw that Chichiri was now looking back and forth between him and Chiriko, a bewildered expression on his face. "What's going on, no da?"   
  
This time, it was Tasuki's turn to blush as he took Chichiri by the shoulders and forced him to look away. "Oh, nothing, Chiri-san!"   
  
Just in time too, for when the bandit turned to look around, he could see that Chiriko was giggling rather hysterically and making kissing motions with his hands. Tasuki gritted his fangs and shot Chiriko a warning look.  
  
All the younger seishi did in reply was to laugh even harder. In fact, he laughed so hard that he fell off the rock that he was standing on.   
  
"ITAI!"  
  
Both Tasuki and Chichiri looked at the source of the cry and hastily, they made their way across the clearing.  
  
"Are you all right, na no da?" Chichiri asked, his face flushed from running.  
  
Tasuki skidded to a stop in front of the crying seishi as well. "Yeah kid. Are 'ya still alive?"  
  
Chiriko, who had been lying down on the ground and crying out in what had seemed to be agony suddenly jumped up and beamed cheerfully at the two other seishi. "Oh, I'm just fine!" He laughed at the shocked looks that the others wore.  
  
Then he winked at Tasuki. "Why, good morning, Tasuki-san! How are you his morning? Fairing well, I hope?"  
  
Tasuki clenched his fists at his sides and he glared at Chiriko darkly. "Why yes, Chiriko. I'm just _ fine_ so now, I am going to go back to the palace and-"  
  
Chiriko grabbed one of Tasuki's hands and pulled, forcing the older seishi to sit on the rock as well. "Oh no, Tasuki-san! You simply _ must_ sit down here with Chichiri-san and me! It is such a beautiful day after all! And besides…" Here, the green-eyed seishi shot Chichiri a meaningful look. "I'm sure Chichiri-san would just _ love_ to have your company! Isn't that right Chichiri?"  
  
Trying to stifle the urge to throttle Chiriko, Tasuki gritted his teeth and stood up again. "Nah, I'm sure he has other stuff to do, so I'm just going to go…OW!" He cried out and turned to stare angrily at the younger seishi who had pinched his arm.   
  
Tasuki smiled nervously at the confused Chichiri before pulling Chiriko into a headlock. "What the hell do 'ya think 'yer doing?" he hissed.  
  
Chiriko blinked innocently back at him. "Me, Tasuki-san? I'm not doing anything!"  
  
"Like hell you aren't!"  
  
Chiriko simply smiled back and placed his hands behind his head in a way that reminded Tasuki of himself. "C'mon Tasuki-san. 'Ya promised to teach me how to be sweet and charming!"  
  
Tasuki sweatdropped. 'Suzaku, the kid was starting to talk with an accent now!' he thought. To Chiriko, he glowered. "Sweet and charming? What are 'ya talking about? I never said I was goin' to teach 'ya how to be sweet and charming!"  
  
"Tasuki-san! 'Ya promised!" Chiriko whined. Tasuki sweatdropped again. The kid had been hanging around him too much. If he looked closely, he could see the fangs beginning to show in the younger seishi's mouth.  
  
"ARGH!" The young bandit yelled in exasperation. Baring his fangs, he plastered a smile on his face and turned to look at Chichiri who was still watching the both of them in obvious confusion. "Oi, Chichiri!"  
  
The blue-haired seishi seemed relieved to finally have someone notice him and he smiled. "Hai, no da?"  
  
Chiriko sat back on the rock and gave Tasuki a thumbs-up sign that the older monk failed to notice. Then he leaned forward in anticipation.  
  
Tasuki sat in front of the rock that Chiriko was sitting on and patted the empty space next to him. He grinned at the older seishi. "Wanna sit next to me?"  


To be continued...  



	5. part five

HOW TO ATTRACT BLUE-HAIRED MONKS (5/?)  
BY : Chikki 

Heeheeheee... ^_^ Yes, I am starting to like this fic very much, and I think that now, I have (more or less) an idea of where I want to go with this fic, so updates will probably be faster now. Gomen ne for taking so long with this. On with the fic! 

Warnings Tasuki has a _VERY_ impressive vocabulary of official "bandit" words, no da…so it's PG 13 for swearing…oh…and some yaoi too,na no da. (^_^)  
Disclaimer Not mine. Never will be,na no da.   
  
  
  
  
Tasuki anxiously looked on as Chichiri cocked his head to one side and regarded the bandit before him curiously. Finally, after what seemed to be eternity, Chichiri let out a resigned sigh and smiled."Okay, no da."   
  
He began to make his way towards the others and Tasuki slowly let out the breath that he didn't know that he had been holding.  
  
Something poked him from behind and the red-haired seishi turned around to see Chiriko grinning mischievously. Leaning forward, Chiriko whispered. "What are you planning to do, Tasuki-san?"  
  
"You just watch and see." Tasuki hissed in return. Then, he smirked. "Lesson number one in attracting blue-haired monks. Act interested in something boring that they are interested in."  
  
"Nani?" Chiriko asked, confused.  
  
Tasuki laughed and turned around just in time to see Chichiri sit down next to him. "So!" he said, smiling cheerfully.  
  
"So…no da." Chichiri said uncertainly, not quite sure as to why Tasuki was acting so weird and why Chiriko was giggling hysterically behind him.  
  
"How was your meditation session this mornin'?"  
  
Chichiri looked at his flame-haired companion in both disbelief and suspicion. "M-my meditation session, no da? You actually want to hear about it?"  
  
"Of course! Tell me how it went!"  
  
"Well…it went pretty good, no da."   
  
"And…?" Tasuki prompted.  
  
"And what, no da?"  
  
Exasperated, Tasuki threw his hands up in the air and leaned against the rock that Chiriko was sitting on. "And what aspect of life did you delve into today?"  
  
"Da…?" Chichiri said, now truly believing that the younger seishi had gone completely mad. Or at least, he still suffering from a hangover. "Are you sure that YOU'RE not the one who is sick, no da?"  
  
"'Course I'm sure! I just wanted to know about how 'yer meditation was this mornin'!" Tasuki pouted flirtatiously, his full lips catching the monk's attention. "There's nothin' wrong with that, is there? Besides, why would you think that I was sick? As I recall, you were the one who looked deathly pale a little while ago."  
  
Chichiri swallowed hard and looked away, much to Chiriko's amusement who had wisely decided to keep silent while Tasuki went on with his so-called plan. "Er…"  
  
"Yes?"   
  
The older seishi placed his hands on his lap and folded them together. "It's just that…first, I see you in the middle of a field, staring out into space with a disturbing smile on your face, no da. Then, you keep whispering with Chiriko and now, you're asking about how my meditation went, na no da." Chichiri frowned in vague hilarity. "That's not exactly what I'd call normal Tasuki behavior, no da."  
  
Suddenly, Chiriko jumped down from the rock and sat so that he was facing both Tasuki and Chichiri. He smiled gleefully at Chichiri, determined to grab any chance of pairing the two other seishi that may come his way. "Ah! And you would know what normal Tasuki behavior is, wouldn't you, Chichiri-san?"  
  
Chichiri glared at Chiriko and ignored the younger seishi once more. Instead, the mask he wore took on an expression of surprise as he leaned in closer to Chiriko and poked around the younger seishi's mouth. "Chiriko! You have fangs, no da!"  
  
Tasuki laughed but his peals of delight were stopped when Chichiri suddenly grabbed a hold of his chin as well and drew him in closer. "Er…Chichiri?" he asked, sweatdropping a bit.  
  
"Hmm, no da…" The monk was holding Chiriko's face in one hand, and Tasuki's in the other. He glanced back and forth between them, forehead scrunched up in deep thought. "Daa…"  
  
"Wha' is it?" Chiriko asked, having trouble talking since Chichiri still held his lower jaw firmly in one hand.  
  
In his surprise, Chichiri let go of Chiriko. "Da? You're starting to speak with an accent too, no da?"  
  
Chiriko laughed in a disturbingly evil way and nodded. "Damn right!"  
  
Chichiri sweatdropped and shook his head. "You have been spending WAY too much time with Tasuki, na no da." The monk remained completely oblivious to the fact that he still held Tasuki's face with his other hand.   
  
The same could not be said about the bandit however, who was quite pleasantly shocked that Chichiri had actually grabbed a hold of his chin AND had pulled him closer too. Drifting off into his little dreamworld again, Tasuki entertained himself with imagining Chichiri doing the very same thing. Only other different circumstances, of course. He grinned and covered Chichiri's hand with his own. "Chichiri?"  
  
"Da?"  
  
Tasuki grinned again, this time, wider. "If you don't mind, I'd like 'ta have my face back now, please."  
  
The young bandit got the satisfaction of seeing Chichiri break out into a blush and hastily pull his hand away. "Of course, no da. Sorry, na no da!"   
  
Tasuki grinned and scooted closer to Chichiri. "So…" he said again.  
  
"Da. What is it, no da?" Chichiri moved a little further from Tasuki.  
  
But the bandit only grinned again and moved in closer. "'Ya never answered my question."  
  
"What question, no da? You had a lot of questions, na no da." Chichiri moved away again, beginning to feel nervous about the insistence that he saw in Tasuki's eyes.  
  
"The one about what you meditated on, Chichiri-san!" Chiriko put in helpfully, still determined to help Tasuki in any way that he could. From the corner of his eye, Chiriko saw Tasuki give him a thumbs-up sign and inwardly, he smiled proudly.  
  
Chiriko shot Chiriko a frustrated look and looked down. "Well, no da…" The flustered monk looked up again and fidgeted with his hands. "Um, That is…"  
  
"Yes?" Tasuki and Chiriko said simultaneously, causing Chichiri to blink twice in surprise.  
  
Sighing in resignation, Chichiri regarded the other seishi with a shy smile. "I was just thinking about the sunrise…"  
  
"Eh…?" Tasuki said, raising one eyebrow. "Wha' about it?"  
  
But Chichiri simply continued talking, like he hadn't heard Tasuki's question at all. His voice sounded awed and his eye looked past those around him, apparently imagining something else. "It was just so beautiful this morning…Everything was so tranquil and calm. One moment, everything was dark and the next, brilliant colors were spilling through the sky, lighting up everything and being just so…" Here, Chichiri shook his head, a small smile on his face. "Beautiful."  
  
There was a long moment of silence as Tasuki gazed with wonderment at the monk before him, who was still staring out over the horizon. Chiriko glanced back and forth between Tasuki and Chichiri, feeling scared to break the trance-like atmosphere that had suddenly descended upon the three of them.  
  
Then, Chichiri broke his gaze off and turned to look at Tasuki and Chiriko instead. "Well, no da!" he said brightly, the trance broken. "I think that was enough, don't you think so, Tas-chan, no da? I certainly think so, na no da. Now if you'll excuse me, Hotohori-sama wanted to see me this morning, no da. See you later, no da!"   
  
And with that, the blue-haired monk gathered all his things and started walking off towards the path that led to the palace.  
  
Once the monk was out of sight, Chiriko glanced in amusement at the still-shocked Tasuki sitting beside him. Grinning widely, he pounded the older seishi on the back. Hard. "Good job, Tasuki-san!"  
  
Tasuki choked and turned around. However, he did not grab his tessen or swear heatedly at Chiriko as expected, which took the younger seishi by surprise. "D-did he just ca..call me…" he looked up at Chiriko, his amber eyes shining with happiness and hope. "Tas-chan?"  
  
"Yes, I do remember him addressing you in that way, Tasuki-san."  
  
Chiriko watched in amusement as Tasuki grinned happily and hugged his knees to his chest. Smiling, Chiriko shook his head and gestured towards where Chichiri had walked off to. "Now, aren't you glad that I convinced you to go after Chichiri-san today?"  
  
"Whad'ya mean, you convinced me to go after him?" Tasuki yelled. "I did that all on my own!"  
  
Chiriko merely made a face. "Nope! Wrong! False! You were too…" He grinned. "Scared! You were to scared to go after him on your own!" He laughed as he watched Tasuki's face slowly turn redder and redder as he blushed in a mixture of happiness, embarrassment and anger.  
  
"I was NOT scared, 'ya damned little…And what did 'ya think you were doing a while back? I thought you were trying to give me another fucking heart attack with the way you were hinting around! I thought for sure that he was goin' to figure it all out!" The frustrated bandit gripped his tessen tightly. "Why I oughta…!"  
  
"Ah!" Chiriko said, smiling innocently and halting Tasuki's original intention of frying him to a crisp. "But you DID make some progress with Chichiri-san, did you not, Tasuki-san?"  
  
Tasuki relaxed the grip that he had on his tessen as he thought about it, and Chiriko grinned triumphantly when he saw a soft smile spread across Tasuki's face.  
  
Setting the tessen back in its holder, Tasuki stared after the path that Chichiri had taken with a dreamy expression on his face. "Yeah. I guess I did."  
  


To be continued...  



	6. part six

HOW TO ATTRACT BLUE-HAIRED MONKS (6/?)  
BY : Chikki 

Well, here's the sixth part, no da. I'm really sorry that it took so long. (^_^;) Anyway, this ficcie is almost done. I think it would need around one or two more chapters, no da. ^_^ 

Warnings Tasuki has a _VERY_ impressive vocabulary of official "bandit" words, no da…so it's PG 13 for swearing…oh…and some yaoi too,na no da. (^_^)  
Disclaimer Not mine. Never will be,na no da.   
  
  
  
"I still can't believe he called me Tas-chan AND that he actually told me that he likes sunrises!" Tasuki said happily, all the while piling food on his plate.   
  
It was now midmorning and Tasuki and Chiriko had spent all the time since "Chichiri Encounter #1" (as Tasuki had dubbed it) roaming around the palace. But just a few minutes ago, Chiriko had started complaining that he was hungry. So after much arguing and swearing and threats of using a certain tessen, the two seishi had made their way to the palace kitchen and had started raiding all the food within.  
  
Tasuki's hand-eye coordination was not really at it's best so the food he attempted to place on his plate ended up on the floor. What's more, he was also declaring everything that had just happened between him and Chichiri in a very large voice,much to the amusement of the palace chefs on duty.  
  
"He sat right next to me, Chiriko! Right NEXT to me!" the older seishi said, amber eyes lighting up with each moment with Chichiri that he remembered. "…and he grabbed my face too!"  
  
Chiriko looked on with mild interest as the bandit took no notice of his overflowing plate and continued piling on the food. "So he did, Tasuki-san."  
  
The red-haired seishi grinned in reply. In a solemn voice, he looked up and declared, "From now on, I am going to watch the sunrise as well! I shall wake up early and never sleep in again!"  
  
This comment earned Tasuki a snort from one of the palace chefs currently eavesdropping on their conversation. Tasuki heard it and turned around to glare at the culprit. He growled. "Whad'dya think 'yer snortin' at?"  
  
Said palace chef simply smiled knowingly and shook his head. "Nothing, Tasuki-sama. Nothing at all." And he turned away, trying to stifle the laughter that was threatening to overcome him at any time. One could hardly blame him, of course. The questionable relationship that Tasuki and Chichiri shared was one of the palace staff's more popular topic of conversation, and he was rather enthralled to learn something new about it.  
  
Tasuki growled at the chef before turning back to placing more food on his plate. "Damned cook. Eavesdroppin' I bet. Wait 'til he comes back, I'll flame his sorry ass for listenin' in on us like that!"  
  
"Tasuki!" Chiriko cried out, snatching the plate away from Tasuki's hands. "If you continue piling on more food, the surface of the floor will be more satisfied of hunger than you will be!"   
  
The other seishi, however, didn't seem to be listening at all. His brow was scrunched up in deep thought. "But if I use my fan on that chef…"  
  
Glaring at the older man, Chiriko scraped off the mountain of food on Tasuki's plate down to a considerable size before handing it back to the bandit, who had scarcely noticed that his plate had been taken at all. "Once again, it is not a fan, it is a tessen, Tasuki-san." He muttered.  
  
Tasuki's eyes grew large and watery. "The who is going to cook food for my Chiri-chan?!"  
  
"Wow." Chiriko said, rolling his eyes. "It certainly is nice being payed absolutely no attention at all."  
  
"…and if no one cooks food for my Chiri-chan, then he would fuckin' starve!"  
  
"Oh, and what a dilemma that would be!" The younger seishi said in mock dread. He placed one of his hands to his forehead in a dramatic pose. "Whatever shall we do?"  
  
Tasuki immediately dropped his plate, the clattering sound attracting the attention of everybody else in the kitchen.   
  
Not noticing that the attention of every person in the room was focused on him, he grabbed Chiriko by the collar with both of his hands and shook him. "You're damned right! We need to be as ready as hell if anything like that happens!"  
  
Chiriko looked at him in amusement. "So what you're saying is…"  
  
"I'm saying that we should go and learn how to cook in case I ever DO find that sneaky chef and flame him! Then Chiri-chan will never go hungry!"  
  
There was a long, tense moment of silence as everybody waited for the outcome of this bizarre situation.  
  
Finally, after what had seemed to be forever, Chiriko shook his head in amusement and grinned. "Are you absolutely sure that you are not suffering from your hangover anymore, Tasuki-san?"  
  
Tasuki looked down. It was a long time before he looked up again, and when he did, his expression was hard and determined. "I don't know, Chiriko." He said slowly. "I don't know what the hell has gotten into me and I don't know why I'm acting like this. I don't know anything anymore, but you know what, Chiriko?"  
  
Almost afraid to ask, but feeling that he had to anyway, Chiriko took a bite from one of the sweets that he had managed to salvage from Tasuki's overloading plate and looked at the older seishi. "Er…what, Tasuki-san?"  
  
A roguish grin spread across the bandit's face. "I don't give a damn." He turned around and grabbed one of the spare aprons that had been lying around.  
  
Chiriko watched with widening eyes as the other began to tie the apron around his waist. "Tasuki-san, you're not serious, are you?"  
  
"I've never been so serious in my entire fuckin' life." Tasuki said. He finished putting on the apron and tossed another one to Chiriko. "Here 'ya go. Put this on. I wouldn't want Mitsukake-kun comin' after me 'fer dirtying up your robes and stuff."  
  
"You're worried about Mitsukake-kun?" the green-eyed seishi said, laughing lightly.  
  
This time, it was Tasuki's turn to roll his eyes. "Yeah. That damned healer kept givin' me dark looks after the time that I took 'ya out hiking and we got lost and we slipped into that huge mud puddle. Remember that?"  
  
Chiriko placed a hand on his chin thoughtfully for a while before brightening up and laughing some more. "Oh yes! He made you wash my robes, didn't he?"  
  
Tasuki made a face and whacked the younger seishi lightly on the head. "He sure as hell did. Be happy that I like 'ya so much, 'else I would've forced 'ya to do your own damned washing."  
  
"Hmm…are you sure that it was purely out of like for me that you agreed to do my laundry?"  
  
Another blush was beginning to form on Tasuki's face, as the kitchen staff at work tried their hardest to ignore the conversation going on between the two seishi and failing. "Eh?" Tasuki asked, his face beet red. "Whad'dya mean this time?"  
  
Chiriko whipped out a scroll from within the folds of his robe. "According to my records, at the time that you were doing my laundry, Chichiri-san was doing his laundry as well, too…AND you were in the same place that he was doing his laundry too!"  
  
The redhead next to him shrugged. "So? That doesn't prove anything."  
  
"Also, it was highly unusual for a lazy bandit such as yourself to suddenly agree to doing someone else's laundry when you hardly ever did your own ever since you set foot on the palace grounds." The child genius paused from his reading and looked up, an impish grin on his face. "Well, Tasuki-san?"  
  
Chiriko laughed at the look on Tasuki's face. "C'mon Tasuki-san, I know about your obsession with Chichiri-san. You don't need to hide it from me!"  
  
"Shut up!" Tasuki all but yelled, his face still a brilliant shade of red. But when the younger boy started rolling around the floor in laughter, even he could not stop the amused smile from spreading across his face, and he laughed. "Just put the damned apron on, Chiriko!"  
  
"But why am I doing this too?" Chiriko complained good-naturedly, securing the apron around his waist as well. "I'm not the one who's head over heels in love with Chichiri-san!"  
  
"Well, you wanted to stick around with me and learn how I go about bein' in love, didn't 'ya?"  
  
Chiriko nodded rather reluctantly. "Hai."  
  
Tasuki smirked in triumph. "So you're goin' to have to go through this traumatic experience with me!" Placing his hands on his hips, he looked around the palace kitchen, noticing that everyone was staring at both him and Chiriko. He glared. "What're y'all looking at? Nothing to see here!"  
  
Everyone hastily went back to their respective jobs, and Tasuki tapped the nearest cook on the shoulder. "Hey you. Me and Chiriko here-"  
  
"Chiriko and I, Tasuki-san." Chiriko quickly cut in. "Saying Chiriko and me isn't really grammatically correct. The correct form would be Chiriko and I."  
  
"Fine!" Tasuki said, sighing. He tapped the chef on the shoulder again. "_Chiriko and I_ want 'ta ask 'fer 'yer help!"  
  
The chef did not answer and Tasuki frowned, his temper beginning to break in. "Hey! I'm talkin' to 'ya!"  
  
Still no response.  
  
Now thoroughly frustrated, Tasuki took the chef by both shoulders and spun him around. "Now you listen 'ta me! I'm on a mission to save a monk, and a very kawaii one at that, from starvation! If you're not goin' 'ta help-" Suddenly, realization dawned upon the bandit and his eyes narrowed to angry slits. "YOU!" he cried out. "You're the fuckin' cook that was eavesdroppin' on us earlier!"  
  
The cook, who was a young boy of no more than fifteen years old, covered his face with his arms and cried out. "Please don't burn me with your tessen, Tasuki-sama! I promise not to do anything else that may offend you in any way for as long as I live!"  
  
Tasuki raised an eyebrow and loosened the grip that he had placed on his tessen. "Uh…sure, kid. Whatever 'ys say." He helped the other boy up. "What's 'yer name, kid?"  
  
The youth brushed away some of the dark stands of hair that had fallen into his line of vision during his moment of terror with Tasuki's Almighty Tessen. "Kazumi."  
  
"Kazumi-san?" Chiriko said tentatively, coming out from his place behind Tasuki and extended a hand in greeting. "I'm Chiriko, and this is Tasuki-san. You best better excuse his impoliteness, but we would really appreciate it if you could teach us how to cook."  
  
Kazumi looked from one seishi to the other and noted the aprons tied around their waists. "Er..cook, Chiriko-sama?"  
  
Chiriko sighed. "Yes. It seems that this is one of Tasuki's new goals in life and…" he leaned in so that Tasuki wouldn't hear what he was going to say. "He's simply using it as another way of attracting Chichiri-san's attention."  
  
The other boy's eyes widened in realization and he smiled. "Ah! Well, in that case…" he looked at Tasuki. " I would be honored to help the two of you."  
  
Tasuki whopped in delight and winked at Chiriko as they followed Kazumi into one of the more secluded areas of the kitchen so as not to be disturbed while they embark on heir journey of mastering the culinary arts. "See, Chiriko!" the bandit said gleefully.  
"Lesson number two in attracting blue-haired monks! Make sure that they don't die out!"  
  
Chiriko shook his head and glanced up again as Kazumi gestured them into what would be their learning area. He turned again to the older boy and bowed deeply. "Arigatou for taking the time to teach us, Kazumi-san. We are most grateful. Aren't we, Tasuki-san?"  
  
Tasuki noted with amusement at the flush that appeared on the boy's cheeks on being in the presence of two of Suzaku's chosen ones. He started to laugh at the sheer ridiculousness of the entire situation but caught the look that Chiriko shot him and the bandit cleared his throat instead. "Er, yeah. We are both very thankful and all that shit. Now let's get started!"  
  
  


TO BE CONTINUED

NOTES:: Now here is where I need your help! I wanted to lead up to Chiriko liking someone, but I couldn't decide who! (I was planning on Kazumi, but I don't think people would go for a yaoi pairing for young little Chiriko, so ...any suggestions?) Arigato no da and I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas! ^___^


	7. part seven

HOW TO ATTRACT BLUE-HAIRED MONKS (7/?)  
BY : Chikki 

Seventh chapter, no da! Finally! (^_^) I already decided on what to do with Chiriko, no da. evil laugh MWA-HAHAHAAA! It will all become clear in the next chapter, no da. Enjoy! 

Warnings Tasuki has a _VERY_ impressive vocabulary of official "bandit" words, no da…so it's PG 13 for swearing…oh…and some yaoi too,na no da. (^_^)  
Disclaimer Not mine. Never will be,na no da.   
  
  
  
Kazumi wiped his brow. He had been working with the two seishi for the whole afternoon, and though he really was not tired, he was really getting wary of Tasuki's lack of cooking skills. He sweatdropped as he watched the fiery bandit before him chop up vegetables with lightning speed. "Er..Tasuki-sama…"  
  
Breathing hard, Tasuki looked up. The older seishi was soaked in sweat, with hair hanging down his forehead. The apron that had been tied so securely before was beginning to fall off. He growled and narrowed his eyes. "WHAT?!"  
  
The young cook jumped and cowered behind the kitchen counter in fear. "Nothing."  
  
"Good." Said Tasuki and he resumed mutilating the vegetables before him.  
  
Chiriko rolled his eyes and turned to look at Kazumi. "You know, Kazumi-san, it is perfectly all right if Tasuki is doing something wrong and you want to set him right."  
  
The older youth looked at Chiriko before looking down and clasping his hands together. "Um…actually, Tasuki-san, those vegetables are not supposed to be cut up. Not for this particular dish, anyway."  
  
Chiriko averted his attention back to the rice that he was cooking. Rice, after all, was the only thing that he knew how to cook. He chuckled. "Well, there you go, Tasuki-san!"  
  
At that, Tasuki looked at Chiriko and Kazumi in suspicion. "Eh? Me? Doing something wrong? Never! No fuckin' way!" He began shaking his head violently from side to side. "The great Tasuki never does anything wrong!"  
  
The younger seishi came up behind him and looked down at the poor disfigured and shriveled up vegetables on the counter before Tasuki in great distaste. He shook his head. "That's not what these vegetables illustrate, Tasuki-san."   
  
Playfully, Chiriko scooped all of the vegetables onto a plate and placed it on the empty table behind them. "These will be Exhibit A!" he proclaimed cheerfully.  
  
Next, Chiriko picked up another plate that held a fish burnt so badly, it was almost a pure black. When the young seishi held the fish by the tail, it broke off. "…and this will be Exhibit B!" he continued, ignoring the glare that Tasuki shot him.  
  
Kazumi finally got into it and held up a handful of deflated beans. "Exhibit C!"  
  
"And this is Exhibit D!"  
  
"Ah! Chiriko-sama! This will be Exhibit E!"  
  
Chiriko poked another fish that had undergone Tasuki's cooking and made a face. It was only half-done. Literally. From the head of the fish down to it's midsection, the fish was fresh and raw. From the midsection down to it's tail, however…it was black. "I don't have a logical explanation for how you managed to cook a fish this way, Tasuki-san, but this is certainly the very first time that I have ever witnessed such a thing."  
  
Kazumi came up and stood beside Chiriko. He poked the fish in wonder. "How did this happen?" He stared back and forth between Tasuki and the fish for several seconds. Finally, he stopped and held his head in his hands. "He's worse than Miaka-sama." He murmured.  
  
The dark-haired youth hadn't realized that he had said the comment out loud. Only when Chiriko erupted with laughter and a bolt of fire rushed over his head did he realize that he did.  
  
"WHY YOU-!!! REKKA SHINEN!"  
  
Kazumi ducked and leapt out of the way. "I'M SORRY!!!" He yelled as he ran around the kitchen, Tasuki right at his heels.  
  
"You're not getting' away that easily! REKKA SHINEN!"  
  
Soon, the once empty table was filled with examples of how bad a cook Tasuki really was. Placing his hands on his hips, Chiriko smiled at the red-faced bandit before him. Kazumi stood beside him, a smile of satisfaction on his face though he was badly burnt. "Well…?"  
  
There was a long silence.  
  
"It doesn't mean anything." Tasuki looked to the side with his nose in the air. "I was just practicing."  
  
Chiriko and Kazumi facevaulted.  
  
Just then, all three boys heard footsteps running towards them and all of them barely had time to brace themselves before Chichiri arrived on the scene, face all flushed from running and some of his hair plastered to his forehead. "Konnichiwa, na no da!" he chirped loudly.  
  
Tasuki "Eeeped!" and hid behind the exhibit table, Chiriko crouched down as well, doing his best to hide the older man from sight.  
  
Kazumi stepped in front of the two struggling seishi and waved his hands, trying to distract Chichiri's attention. "Ah! Chichiri-sama! What brings you here?"  
  
A little confused, Chichiri tilted his head to one side and placed one hand on his hip. "Da, I was hungry, no da,..so I went to the kitchen to get some food! But everyone there told me to come back here, na no da."  
  
"Er…they did?" said Kazumi, looking at Tasuki and Chiriko from the corner of his eye. "Why?"  
  
The monk smiled. "Well, apparently, Tas-chan-"  
  
Tasuki's eyes widened at the pet name that Chichiri used and Chiriko nudged him on the side mischievously.   
  
"-and Chiriko are supposed to be in here learning how to cook, and I wanted to be here to witness and laugh at them ,no da." Bringing a hand up to his chin, Chichiri frowned a little and mused. "But everyone was giggling and sneaking glances at me, na no da…" his voice trailed off.  
  
There was an uncomfortable silence, as Kazumi did not want to say anything that would give Tasuki and Chiriko away and Chichiri was mulling over how everyone was acting over his appearance in the kitchen earlier.  
  
Finally, the monk broke out of his trance-like state and proceeded to walk towards the exhibit table. "Anyway, no da, I'm still hungry…Are these what they did, no da? Where are they, anyway?"  
  
Kazumi quickly stepped in front of Chichiri again and tugged relentlessly on the monk's arm to prevent him from going any further. "NO!"  
  
"Nani, no da?"  
  
The cook looked around frantically before his attention settled on the soup quietly simmering on one of the stoves. "Uh, I meant NOootice the soup, Chichiri-sama! " Kazumi exclaimed, still tugging on the monk's arm.   
  
"Okay, no da." Chichiri looked at the soup for several seconds without saying anything. Kazumi sweatdropped.  
  
"There!" the blue-haired man said happily. "Now that I'm done noticing the soup, no da, can I please see what's on the table, no da?"  
  
Kazumi's dark eyes widened and he quickly acquired a large bowl full of the soup. Holding it up to Chichiri, he said "Here! You said that you were hungry, would you like to have some soup?"  
  
Chichiri looked down at the young cook in amusement. "Oh no, that's okay, no da. I'm not really that hungry anymore." He began to move towards the exhibit table again.  
  
"WAIT!"   
  
"What is it now, no da?"   
  
Kazumi could see that behind Chichiri's back, Tasuki and Chiriko were quietly crawling out from behind the table and making their way out of the kitchen. "I insist that you try some of this soup, Chichiri-sama!" Kazumi cried out.  
  
"But I'm not that hungry anymore, no da!" Chichiri said weakly as he backed away and begun to turn around.  
  
In order to stop the monk from seeing the other seishi, Kazumi accidentally-on-purpose "spilled" the entire bowl of soup down Chichiri's shirt.  
  
"DAAAAAAA!" Chichiri cried, trying to rescue as much of his shirt as possible.  
  
Kazumi put on an apologetic face. "Oh, I am so sorry, Chichiri-sama! Here!" the cook grabbed a piece of cloth that just happened to be nearby and began rubbing down the entire front of Chichiri's shirt. "Let me help you!"  
  
The blue-haired monk sighed and held up his shirt, deciding that it was beyond salvation already. Kazumi had somehow managed to spill the soup down the entire front of his shirt, and now, it was totally soaked. "I'm going to have to take it off, no da. Do you have an extra shirt somewhere that I could borrow in the meantime, no da?"  
  
Hearing this, Tasuki suddenly stopped in his tracks as his heart began beating wildly in his chest. "Fuck." He groaned. Now he couldn't get away even if he wanted to, which he did, actually. He couldn't bear the thought of Chichiri finding out what a lousy cook he was, although the kawaii monk probably knew that already.   
  
Cursing under his breath, Tasuki reached out and tapped Chiriko's shoulder.  
  
"What?" Chiriko mouthed.  
  
Tasuki gave him a frustrated look and gestured towards Chichiri, who still had his back to them and was already starting to take off his shirt.  
  
The younger seishi groaned as Tasuki slunk back down behind one of the tables to watch, a bit of drool escaping his mouth.  
  
Meanwhile, Kazumi was watching the comical pantomime that Tasuki and Chiriko had going on behind Chichiri's back and was trying to contain his laughter.   
  
Chichiri's voice broke into his thoughts. "Ah, Kazumi? Do you have an extra shirt, no da?"  
  
Kazumi once again looked at the monk bowed hastily. "Hai! I'll go and get it right away, Chichiri-sama!" He began to run out of the room, but then he stopped and turned back to Chichiri, a puzzled expression on his face. "Chichiri-sama? How do you know my name?"  
  
The blue-haired seishi, who had seated himself on one of the chairs gave him a cheerful smile. "One of the cooks told me before I came in, no da."  
  
"Oh." And with that, Kazumi rushed out of the room, grabbing Chiriko by the hand on the way. Tasuki was still distracted so he didn't notice when his younger companion abandoned him.  
  
Once both were out of an earshot, Chiriko yanked his hand out of Kazumi's grip and hissed. "What do you think you're doing? We can't just leave Tasuki-san alone like that! Who knows what he would do with a half-naked Chichiri in the same room? We have to go back!"  
  
Kazumi bowed apologetically. "Gomen ne, Chiriko-sama, but it is for the best." He then locked the door that served as the only means of entrance and exit for the room that they had just come from.  
  
The Tasuki in Chiriko began to kick in and the youngest seishi held up a fist to Kazumi's face. "What do you mean? If anything happens to Tasuki in there…"  
  
"But that's exactly what I want to happen, Chiriko-sama!"  
  
Chiriko lowered his fist and placed a hand behind his head, confused. "Huh? What do you mean?" And just when Kazumi opened his mouth to answer, Chiriko cut him off again. "And please, drop the honorific, Kazumi-san. I am younger than you are, so I should be the one doing all the formalities, not the other way around."  
  
Kazumi's eyes twinkled in amusement and he stooped down a little so that he was at eye level with the shorter boy. Dark strands of hair fell into his line of vision and he quickly pushed them back so that he could see. "Okay…Chiriko. " the young cook said, marveling at how at ease he was around the green-eyed seishi already. He was definitely more comfortable around Chiriko than he would be around Tasuki, that's for sure. "What I'm trying to say is that maybe the best way to bring this Tasuki-Chichiri dilemma to an end would be to force both of them to actually talk to each other about it! And what better way to do that than to-"  
  
"Isolate them together in a locked room!" Chiriko concluded slowly, the corners of his mouth beginning to tilt up slightly.  
  
"Exactly!" Kazumi said gleefully, an impish expression on his face.  
  
The younger seishi began to feel a little dizzy as he looked into the older boy's dark eyes and he clutched his stomach suddenly. Maybe he shouldn't have tried to taste that cake that Tasuki had tried to make. "Ohh…something's wrong with my equilibrium."  
  
Kazumi looked over at him worriedly. "Are you going to be all right?"  
  
"Hai, Kazumi-san." Chiriko said at once. "I shall accompany you as you go and acquire another shirt for Chichiri-san, then would you please be so kind as to accompany me to search for Mitsukake-san afterwards?" Chiriko clutched his stomach as he felt another wave of dizziness hit him when Kazumi touched his arm. "I really don't feel very well."  
  
"Of course!" Kazumi replied enthusiastically. Inside, he was cheering happily. He had managed to meet three of the seishi today and he was going to get to meet another one? Of course, he would agree! In fact, he was feeling quite honored that Chiriko, a Suzaku seishi , had asked a normal kitchen boy such as himself to accompany him as he did his errands!  
  
And so the two boys made their way out of the kitchen to search for a shirt that Chichiri could use, leaving both Tasuki and Chichiri in the locked room.  
  
Alone.  
  
  
  


TO BE CONTINUED

NOTES:: Heehee ^_^ Cliffhanger, no da! 


	8. part eight

HOW TO ATTRACT BLUE-HAIRED MONKS (8/?)  
BY : Chikki 

Yey! After a _very_ long absence from the net, I am BACK! _pumps fist into the air _YEAH! Anyway, here's the eighth chapter and I'm really sorry that it took so long. I've got a lot of reading and catching up to do, but I decided to finish writing this chapter first and post it up before I did so. R+R PLEASE! _is begging _I need to know if people are still reading this, no da. ^_^;; 

Warnings Tasuki has a _VERY_ impressive vocabulary of official "bandit" words, no da…so it's PG 13 for swearing…oh…and some yaoi too,na no da. (^_^)  
Disclaimer Not mine. Never will be,na no da.   
  
  
  
_Drip.  
  
Drip.  
  
Drip._  
  
Tasuki silently cursed under his breath as beads of sweat trailed down his chin and dripped onto the floor. 'K'so.'   
  
He loosened the collar of his shirt a bit. Literally speaking, the room was getting too hot for him. The red-haired bandit did not know how long he had been crouching behind the table. However, he was sure that it had been a heck of a long time, because the last rays of the sun filtered in through the tiny window near the ceiling and bathed the entire room in a soft, orange glow.  
  
With as much care as possible, Tasuki shifted his position as quietly as he could. It wasn't because his muscles were beginning to feel cramped or anything. Countless hours of spying on Chichiri in pretty much the same position had made his entire body immune to any kind of cramp that he could possibly feel. He had moved so that he could get nearer to the door where his other companions had exited earlier.  
  
Growling, Tasuki bit his lower lip in annoyance. He was seriously pissed at Chiriko and Kazumi right now. He didn't understand how he, of all people, could have been caught in this kind of situation. One moment, he and Chiriko were trying to sneak out of the kitchen without being seen, and the next, he was completely abandoned and crouching behind the table, trying not to be caught by a certain monk that also happened to be the cause of the rapid cadence of his heartbeat right now. 'ARGH!' he yelled in his mind. 'I thought shit like this only happened to people like Nuriko!'  
  
Suddenly, Tasuki could feel himself being lifted up against his own will. He forgot that he was supposed to keep quiet and exclaimed, "WHAT THE HELL!?" And before he could say anything else, the same mysterious force had begun to hurl him into a wall. Screaming profanities the whole time, Tasuki crashed into the wall at full speed. 

-----------------------------

  
Meanwhile, in another part of the palace, Nuriko was talking quietly with Miaka when all of a sudden, he felt a part of his strength leave him. "Nani?"  
  
Miaka looked at the purple-haired seishi in concern. "Nuriko-chan? What's wrong?"  
  
Nuriko slowly shook his head, in attempt to calm his confusion. "Ah, it's nothing Miaka-chan…I just felt weird for a moment. Like, I just tossed Tasuki into a wall or something."  
  
"But you didn't, did you?" The young girl asked, also confused.  
  
"That's what's puzzling me." Nuriko said, frowning a bit as he raked his fingers through his hair. "  
It's almost like I did it with my mind or something…"  
  
An awed silence fell between the two of them for a while.  
  
Finally, Miaka looked up, grinning wildly. "That is so cool!"  
  
Nuriko smiled as well, a hand on his cheek. "Of course!" he said, giggling girlishly. "What else could you expect from me?"  
  
And then, the two friends went back to talking and gossiping about everybody else in the palace as if nothing out of the ordinary had ever happened.

-----------------------------

"Tas-chan, no da…Wake up, na no da…"   
  
Tasuki first opened his left eye, but he closed it again when the light in the room blinded him momentarily.  
  
"Da…wake up, no da."  
  
Someone was tapping his cheek gently. At first, Tasuki attempted to ignore the light tapping, but no matter how hard he tried, it wouldn't go away. Heaving a big sigh of irritation, Tasuki sat up quickly. "All right, all right already! I'm up! I'm up! Quit the tapping before I go fuckin' insane!"   
  
There weren't a lot of people in the palace who possessed the sheer guts that were needed to wake him up, especially when he appeared to be enjoying his slumber extremely well. So, with eyes burning in exasperation but also with a hint of curiosity, Tasuki then turned around to see who had been brave enough to wake him up…and came face to face with Chichiri's mask.  
  
"AHH!" Tasuki yelled, still not used to seeing people (or masks, for that matter) pop out of nowhere.  
  
Chichiri moved back as well, startled by the other seishi's yell. "DAAA!"  
  
"What the fuck?!"  
  
"Da?"  
  
"Chichiri?"  
  
"Tas-chan, no da?"  
  
"Chichiri??"  
  
"Tasuki-chan, no da??"  
  
"Chichiri!"  
  
"Tasuki-chan, no da!"  
  
Tasuki shook his head from side to side in confusion. That conversation sounded WAY too much like Tamahome and Miaka. They always sounded dull and monotonous to Tasuki, so he did not even want to think about how he and Chichiri had sounded like. Not that he would actually mind Chichiri saying his name over and over like that. He grinned widely.  
  
"Tas-chan, no da?"  
  
"Chichiri?" Right after he said this, Tasuki gritted his teeth and winced inwardly. Maybe saying each other's names came with being completely in love with one another. If so, then that was a good sign. If not, then both of them had been spending too much time around Tamahome and Miaka.  
  
"Hai, no da?"  
  
"Don't 'ya ever scare me like that again!" Tasuki yelled, using his shocked and confused state to cover up his raging heartbeat and his blush before Chichiri could notice.   
  
"Gomen nasai, Tas-chan, no da!"  
  
Tasuki sank down to the ground and, for the first time, took notice of his surroundings. "Where are we, anyway? And why are we still here if I've been out cold for the last few minutes?"  
  
The monk sat down beside him and took off his mask. "We're in the unused kitchen, no da. The door has been locked, no da . You and Chiriko were taking culinary classes from Kazumi, na no da."  
  
At this, the bandit looked away and blushed brightly. "Aw, hell. How'd 'ya find out about that?" Inside, he berated himself grumpily. Sure, his mission may have been to save kawaii blue-haired monks from starvation when he got the idea of learning how to cook in the first place. But the kawaii blue-haired monk that was to be rescued was not supposed to know that he was saving him from starvation! For Chichiri to know so would only result in humiliation for him! Tasuki did not want the other seishi to think even more lowly than what he probably thought of him now.  
  
Chichiri smiled cheerfully. "I was hungry, no da."  
  
And for one ridiculously long moment, Tasuki began to panic. _ Shit! I am such a failure! Now, because of me, he's going to starve! I faaaiiled!!!  
_  
By this time, Chichiri had noticed the wide range of emotions that had flashed through Tasuki's face in his moment of panic. He stood up and looked at the younger seishi in concern. "Tas-chan, no da? Are you oka-DAA!"  
  
The last part was said because Tasuki had suddenly grabbed onto the bottom part of his legs and was now holding on to them like a lifeline. "Chiri! I am so sorry!" Tasuki was crying torrents now, much to the dismay of his blue-haired companion. "I didn't mean to fail 'ya but I still did and now you're going 'ta starve and I just want 'ya to know that I'm so sorry!!"  
  
The other seishi sweatdropped. "Nani, no da?"  
  
"You're an' all the other kawaii blue-haired monks are goin' to die out from starvation and it's gonna be all my fuckin' fault!"  
  
"Da?" Chichiri looked around cautiously, glad that no one else could witness this somewhat embarrassing scene. Not that he was ashamed of Tasuki or anything. It was just that with nobody else around, he wouldn't have to try to look like he didn't enjoy having Tasuki grab him like that. Chichiri looked down at the mass of red hair that was spewed out across his flat stomach and he shivered slightly. Fortunately for him, Tasuki was still too busy ranting on incoherently to notice anything else.  
  
"Demo…" the blue-haired seishi said cautiously, trying to search for the right words that would calm Tasuki. "I'm not hungry anymore, no da."  
  
"I swear! I tried as hard as I could to fry that fish in _ just_ the right way, but it didn't work an' that fuckin' fish from hell still came out half-cooked! 'An I chopped up those damned vegetables with-" Tasuki's eyes suddenly widened and he released Chichiri's legs rather forcibly. "Wait…" His amber eyes narrowed suspiciously. "You're _ NOT_ hungry?"  
  
"Iie, no da. While you were still unconscious, I ate most of the soup from that pot on the stove." To prove his point, Chicihri gestured towards the table which was indeed covered with empty soup bowls.  
  
Tasuki sank back down to the ground in relief. "Oh."  
  
Chichiri just smiled.  
  
Then, realizing how stupid he had been acting, Tasuki blushed very hard and looked away from Chichiri as the latter sat next to him again. "Hey." He said very softly.   
  
"Hai, no da?"  
  
"Gomen ne for acting like a complete idiot back there." Tasuki said, still not looking at Chichiri so that the older man couldn't see the tomato red blush that graced his face.  
  
Of course, because of Tasuki's very obvious attempts to hide his blush, Chichiri saw it and the monk caught himself thinking about how absolutely adorable Tasuki looked like when he blushed. Chichiri sighed dreamily. _ Like he was a little kid caught doing something that he shouldn't be doing, no da. He's absolutely adorable._  
  
"What?"  
  
Realizing that he had spoken that last thought out loud, Chichiri covered his mouth with his hand and looked away. Now, it was his turn to break out into a tomato red blush. "Nothing, no da." He said, though it came out muffled because of his hand.  
  
Silence reigned over them for a few moments. Then they both began to speak at the same time.  
  
"'Chiri, I just wanna say-"  
  
"Tas-chan, no da, Why did you-"  
  
Both of them stopped talking at the same time as well and looked away. Tasuki took out his tessen and began fidgeting with it nervously. Chichiri was smoothening out an imaginary wrinkle from his pants, his mask had been taken off a long time ago.  
  
Silence again. From somewhere in the palace, they could hear Nuriko's laughter ringing out and occasionally, they would hear the shouts that Tamahome made when he was being attacked by Miaka for attempting to steal some of her stuff to sell at the local marketplace again.  
  
Chichiri sighed and decided to take the uncomfortable situation into his own. hands. He was the older one, after all. Having decided to do so, he gathered all of his courage and tried to forget about the fact that he was talking to Tasuki dressed only in his pants. Chichiri took a deep breath, then cleared his throat, causing Tasuki to look at him.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Da. You were saying something about saving blue-haired monks, no da?" Chichiri tilted his head to one side and did his best to look like he wasn't hoping to hear what he wanted to hear from Tasuki.  
  
Tasuki fidgeted with his tessen a little bit more, splaying it out and then folding it up again. "Uh-yeah. We wouldn't want them to die out, would we?" He laughed nervously.  
  
"Ah." Chichiri said, nodding his head to show that he understood what the other seishi was saying when in actuality, he was becoming more confused by the minute. "Demo…I was assuming that I was the only blue-haired monk that you knew, no da." Here, he looked at Tasuki straight in the eye. "There are other blue-haired monks that you know, na no da?"  
  
"Er, no." said the red-haired bandit. He screwed up his face as he thought. "Come to think of it, 'yer the only blue-haired monk that I know. For as far as I can remember, anyway. There was this one monk I met when I was still a kid though. But his hair wasn't blue."  
  
The situation was going out of Chichiri's control, so he looked away from Tasuki and focused his gaze on the door instead. H_mm…Kazumi is taking a really long time in finding me a shirt, no da. It must have been an hour since he had left, na no da!_  
  
Chichiri sighed and hugged his knees to his chest. He was beginning to feel very uncomfortable. He was trapped in a locked room. With Tasuki. Half-naked.  
  
"'Ya know..." Chichiri looked up as the bandit spoke, still not looking directly at Chichiri. "I was taking those cooking lessons 'fer 'ya."  
  
"For me, no da?"  
  
Tasuki nodded slightly, his head bowed down. "I know, it was probably a stupid thing 'ta do and I 'dun know why I did it, now that I think about it."  
  
"Da."  
  
"It doesn't matter now, anyway. I was still a failure and 'ya still didn't get anything from it." Tasuki stood up, so that his back was facing Chichiri.  
  
Chichiri started laughing. The whole situation was strangely ridiculous yet amusing at the same time. A warm feeling began to spread throughout his entire body and he started to feel a little light-headed. Suddenly, the image of the bandit trying to cook for him in a frilly apron popped into his head and he laughed some more.  
  
Tasuki looked at him sadly, biting his lower lip, obviously hurt by Chichiri's laughing at his intentions. "Yeah, pretty stupid, na?"  
  
The monk quickly realized that he had hurt Tasuki's feelings and he stood up to face Tasuki, looking up slightly since the bandit was taller than he was. "Iie, Tas-chan, no da." He chuckled slightly. "I think that it was a very kawaii thing to do, na no da!"  
  
"You…do?"  
  
"Hai." Chichiri said smiling a bit, before suddenly rushing forward and closing the meager distance between them. Not knowing that he did so, he hugged the younger man to him tightly. He laughed. Tasuki always made him laugh and feel young again. He smiled and laughed more around Tasuki then he did with the other seishi. "Arigato, na no da!"  
  
Tasuki couldn't move. He was literally rooted to the spot, his brain frantically ordering his hands to push Chichiri away before he did something that he would regret for the rest of his life. However, the feel of Chichiri's arms around him sort of made it hard for him to concentrate and his body was having trouble listening to his brain.   
  
So instead of moving away like what he had planned to do, Tasuki grinned goofily and blurted out the first coherent thought that came out of his head. "I like flowers." Then, he instinctively leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss on Chichiri's forehead.   
  
It was a few moments more before Tasuki realized what he had done. Shocked by this realization, he cautiously looked down, praying fervently that he hadn't scared the older man. "'Chiri?" he asked timidly.  
  
Chichiri had not released his hold on Tasuki, which was a good sign, but the monk had turned his head away from him, preventing him from seeing Chichiri's face. The younger seishi did not know whether it meant that Chichiri was disgusted with him or if he was going to accept him, so he waited anxiously for the other to speak before doing anything.  
  
Finally, Chichiri looked back up at him, his expression indiscernible. He still did not release his grip on Tasuki. "You know what, no da?"  
  
Tasuki swallowed hard before answering. "What?" His voice shook and with trembling hands, he slowly placed them on the other's back.  
  
Chichiri made no signs of moving away from Tasuki as he continued to stare into the other's eyes. "I like flowers too, na no da."  
  
There was a very long moment of silence as the two contemplated the situation at hand. Tasuki coughed and smiled warily. "'Chiri?"  
  
"Da?"  
  
"Is something happenin' here?"  
  
The other seishi laughed. "I have no idea, no da."  
  
"Well, I'm having trouble breathing. That has to count 'fer somethin', right?"  
  
"I guess so, Tasuki, no da."  
  
"What happened 'ta 'yer callin' me Tas-chan?"  
  
"Gomen ne, Tas-chan, no da."  
  
No one said anything for a couple more minutes, each feeling very light-headed and deliriously happy that the other had not been disgusted by their actions. Then, Chichiri hesitantly released his hold on Tasuki.  
  
"Tas-chan, no da?"  
  
"Hai?"  
  
Chichiri looked straight into the other's eyes. "I want to give you something, no da. Is it all right?"  
  
Tasuki's eyes practically lit up. "Presents? Sure! I love getting presents!"  
  
The older seishi shook his head in amusement. He took a deep breath and moved his face closer to Tasuki's. "Tasuki, I-"

"Yeah, 'Chiri?"

"I-"  
  
Chichiri was cut off by a shout that pierced his ears. He looked over his shoulder sharply, half-expecting to see Miaka being attacked by another demon again. "Da?"  
  
Tasuki pulled away from Chichiri, his face was beet-red but he looked determined. "Dammit, that was Chiriko!" The bandit rushed towards the door, his tessen in his hands.  
  
"It's locked, no da!" Chichiri reminded him anxiously.  
  
"Well, can't 'ya teleport?" 

The older man shook his head. "My staff, my kasa and my kesa aren't with me, no da." He said, looking away in frustration.  
  
"Not even 'yer prayer beads?"  
  
Chichiri shook his head, feeling absolutely useless at the moment.  
  
"Aw, it's all right." Tasuki said, giving him a slight smirk. He held up his tessen and winked at the other seishi. "Let's not forget that I have the tessen! Stand back, Chichiri!"  
  
The monk obeyed him and stepped back a few paces to avoid getting burnt.  
  
"REKKA SHINEN!!"  
  
The door to the kitchen blazed brightly for a few seconds before it crumbled before their eyes. Tasuki casually stepped over the rubble and held out a hand to Chichiri to help him get across.  
  
As they left the kitchen, first walking briskly before breaking out into a full run, Tasuki looked at the monk running beside him from the corner of his eye. _ I guess we'll have to finish our conversation later_.  
  
  
  
TO BE CONTINUED


	9. part nine

HOW TO ATTRACT BLUE-HAIRED MONKS (9/?)  
BY : Chikki 

I am extremely sorry that this is taking so long to update. _kicks all the schoolbooks and notebooks on her desk _I hate you! (-_-;) I have been so busy for the last few months, I barely had the time to go on-line. Then, when I do so , I find that my e-mail and homepage accounts have been deleted, so it means that I have to start form scratch all over again. _sighs _Oh well. As long as I have my Tasuki and Chichiri plush dolls, it's okay! (^_^) _blinks, suddenly remembering that she doesn't HAVE Tasuki and Chichiri plush dolls _Argh. (_) Anyway, please R&R 

Warnings Tasuki has a _VERY_ impressive vocabulary of official "bandit" words, no da…so it's PG 13 for swearing…oh…and some yaoi too,na no da. (^_^)  
Disclaimer Not mine. Never will be,na no da.   
  
  
  


By the time that both the bandit and the monk had arrived at Chiriko's room, the younger seishi's screaming had not yet died out. Frantic now of the well-being of the green-eyed boy, Tasuki and Chichiri burst into the room with vigor.

"Chiriko?!" Tasuki called out fearfully. He gripped his tessen tighter as his eyes darted across the room. Unconsciously, Tasuki took note of the furnishings of the room and saw nothing out of the ordinary. This calmed the bandit down somewhat and he put down his tessen.

Chichiri, who had been running a few paces behind Tasuki, skidded to a stop right next to him. The older seishi leaned on the younger for support as he too surveyed the room critically. "Chiriko, no da?"

Opposite the door, where both men were, there was a large window. To their right was a small desk on which several scrolls rested, while the bed stood to their left. There seemed to be no sight of the youngest seishi. Pushing Chichiri behind him, Tasuki ventured into the room and scanned it's dark corners.

Both men spotted the youth at the same time and immediately rushed towards him. Chiriko was leaning against the wall that was opposite his bed, green eyes wide.

"Chiriko?" Tasuki asked anxiously, waving a hand back and forth in front of the other's face. "Whats'a matter?"

The child prodigy closed his eyes and held a hand to his chest in order to calm his breathing before answering. After all, after hunger, suffocation was probably his least favorite way to die. (Not counting evil spirits and bad monsters of course.)

After a few moments of waiting, Chichiri glanced at Tasuki from out of the corner of his eye. The other seishi was still frantically trying to attract Chiriko's attention. Biting on his lower lip, Chichiri stood up and looked around the room once more. A bright flash of color attracted his attention and he began to walk towards the bed.

"OI! CHI-RI-KO!!" Tasuki yelled into Chiriko's ear. It was then that the youngest seishi snapped out of the daze that he was in and acknowledged the presence of the others.

"Tasuki-san! Chichiri-san!" he exclaimed, trying to act normal. This did not work due to the fact that his face was still pale and it was quite obvious that he was still shaken. "What are you doing here?"

Tasuki ignored Chiriko's question and stopped down so that he was at eye level with him. He eyed him apprehensively. "What the HELL were you screaming for, Chiriko?"

Chiriko seemed visibly shaken by the question and he pushed his index fingers together nervously. "Oh that! Heheheh…It was nothing. I'm fine." He laughed, hoping to prove his point.

"Like hell it was nothing!" Tasuki hissed into his ear. "Chiri and I hightailed our way all the way here from the kitchen! You sounded like you were being tortured! Massacred! Barbecued!"

"Oh, and like that's not an everyday occurrence, Tasuki-san?" Chiriko said sardonically.

"Whad'dya mean?"

Chichiri came up behind Tasuki, abandoning the bright flash of color for the moment and slapped him good-naturedly on the back. "He just means that everyone within your vicinity has, in some way or other, been burned by your tessen, no da." He turned to Chiriko, smiling cheerfully. "Right, no da?"

The young boy nodded. "Hai."

"See, no da?" the monk declared triumphantly, his hand still on Tasuki's back. "Even Hotohori-sama has been burned, na no da."

"Although there are some people who have managed to escape the tessen…" Chiriko added thoughtfully, glad that the attention was turned away from the reason as to why he was screaming.

"There has?" Tasuki cried out, surprise evident in his voice. He stood up straighter and waved his tessen around furiously. "That's impossible! I made sure that everyone has went through it at least once! I mean, c'mon! A fuckin' bandit leader like me has to have a reputation, you know!"

As Tasuki continued to rant, Chiriko began to search his robes.

Chichiri looked at him curiously. "What are you looking for, no da?"

"My record book…" Chriko replied, looking into his sleeve. "I always carry it around…I just want to check on something."

"DAMN RIGHT!" Tasuki shouted, suddenly appearing before the other two seishi. "'Ya go and check on it! If word gets out that I had been living with fine-assed people for more than a year and I hadn't flamed any one of them, my bandit reputation is KA-PUT!"

"Maa, maa, Tasuki-chan." Chichiri said sympathetically, trying to calm him down before he burned Chiriko's room down to the ground. "I'm sure that your bandit reputation is still good and…um…impacting, no da."

Tasuki made a face. "Impacting, huh? What the fuck is that supposed to mean?"

The monk drew back from the cranky bandit and looked away. "I was just trying to make you feel better, no da." Chichiri then went into chibi form and sat on Chiriko's bed, bringing up both of his chibified hands to cover his face.

At the sight of the unhappy chibi monk, Tasuki's heart instantly melted like butter on a hot summer's day. He rushed towards the bed and gathered the crying chibi in his arms.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

Chichiri sniffed loudly. "Ts'okay no d-eep!." He squeaked in surprise as Tasuki brought him in closer.

"I didn't mean it!" the ridiculously panicked bandit said, cuddling the chibi monk.

'Yes,no da!' Chichiri thought triumphantly, cuddling Tasuki in return, a happy smile on his face.

Chiriko rolled his eyes at the happy seishi before him. "Are you two done yet?"

Embarrassed, both seishi pulled away from each other and focused on Chiriko instead.

"Good." The young boy said, pleased that he finally had their attention. He waved a fairly large notebook in front of their faces. "I found my record book!"

Tasuki quickly forgot about his humiliation and scooted over to Chiriko, looking at the notebook over the younger seishi's shoulder. "Good! Now find out who I hadn't flamed yet!" He gritted his fangs and slung his tessen over his shoulder. "So that I can track down their asses and burn them to a crisp!"

At this comment, Chichiri visibly paled and he scooted further down the bed in hopes of avoiding the present conversation.

Smirking mischievously to himself at the monk's reaction, Chiriko innocently trailed his finger down a page in his notebook marked "PEOPLE WHICH TASUKI HAD BURNED". The page was divided into three neat columns. The first column contained a list of everyone in the palace, the second had a number of tally marks and the third consisted of Chiriko's personal notes.

Tasuki leaned forward in order to take a closer look at the page, smirking happily when he found Tamahome's name in the list. According to Chiriko's record, he had burned the young martial arts master a grand total of 217 and 1/8 times during his entire stay in the palace. Eagerly, he read what Chiriko had written down in his personal comments section.

"Ha! It says here that Tama-no-baka has Mitsukake healing him at least 4 or 5 times every week!" the bandit placed both hands on his hips and laughed out loud. "Damn, I'm good!"

Chiriko ignored his comrade's egoistic tirade and continued to search down the page. "Hmm…"

Chichiri, seeing that this was going to take some time, laid back on the bed, repositioning the pillows to suit him. He closed his eyes and sighed softly. This had been a very long day.

"There's just one thing I don't understand though." Tasuki said thoughtfully, placing a finger to his chin, and in Chichiri's point of view, looking extremely adorable in his confusion.

"What is it?"

"What the hell do you mean by saying that I burned Tamahome 217 and 1/8 times? How can I burn an eighth off somebody?"

Chiriko rolled his eyes and went back to searching his notebook. "You only burned his head, Tasuki-san. If I divided the human body into 8 equal parts, then burning his head would mean burning 1/8 of the entire body."  
  


Tasuki blinked uncomprehendingly. "Oh."

"It's simple arithmetic, Tas-chan, no da." The monk said softly from his post on Chiriko's bed.

The young genius nodded in agreement to Chichiri's comment and turned a page in the notebook where more names were listed.

Tasuki, however, made the mistake of looking at Chichiri as he spoke and his eyes widened at the sight of his monk tangled up in the sheets and pillows of Chiriko's bed. A slight flush appeared on his face and he hastily turned around.

Thankfully, the monk didn't notice because Chiriko finally found what he was looking for. "A-hah!" he cried.

Both Tasuki and Chichiri looked at him curiously. "What is it, no da?" Chichiri asked, sitting up slightly.

Chiriko smiled at the both of them sweetly. "Well, I have located the names of the people which Tasuki hadn't flamed."

"YEAH!" Tasuki cried. "Now tell me their names so that I can go and REKKA SHINEN them outta this country!"

"Why are you so intent on doing that, anyway?" Chiriko asked, a disapproving look on his face.

"I told 'ya!" the primed bandit insisted. "It's 'fer my reputation! Plus, not getting flamed is supposed to be a special advantage." Seeing the amused look on Chiriko's face, Tasuki shrugged. "At least that's what Kouji said. Accordin' to him, only the people which the owner of the tessen really loves are the only ones that are free from the tessen's wrath."

Chiriko's eyes literally lit up at this new revelation. "Loves, Tasuki-san?"

"Yeah."

"So…" Chiriko looked up at the bandit innocently. "How does it work? Gomen ne, but I'm afraid that I don't understand what you are saying."

"Well 'fer bein' a child genius, 'ya sure don't catch up quick." Tasuki said, affection clear in his voice as he ruffled the younger seishi's hair. "It means that only those that I love are the only ones that should not be burned."

"Ohhh!" Chiriko's eyes widened in playful comprehension. "So only those you COMPLETELY love are those who are not burned?"

"Hai. Now get on with it and tell me the names already!" Tasuki exclaimed, one hand already poised above his tessen.

At the mention of this, Chichiri began to pay attention. He was, as Chiriko expected, very much interested in finding out who Tasuki had not flamed.

"But there's only one name here, Tasuki-san…"

"That's good! Because that means less work for me!" The bandit laughed loudly. "Who is it?"

Chiriko tapped a finger on his notebook. "Are you sure that you LOVE all the people that you had not flamed?"

As expected, Tasuki's patience finally came to an end and he grabbed Chiriko's notebook out of his hand. "YES! In order for a person to be NOT flamed, that person must be loved and cared for by ME! There! You happy?"

Chiriko nodded, a happy smile on his face.

Tasuki let out the breath that he did not know he had been holding. "Good." He flipped open the notebook that Chiriko had been holding and let his eyes travel down the list of names.

The other seishi in the room watched him intently as Tasuki scanned the page. Chiriko with anticipation and Chichiri with a feeling of dread.

After what seemed like an eternity, Tasuki finally found the name which did not contain any tally marks, indicating that the person had never been burned in his entire stay in the palace.

"I found it!" Tasuki yelled excitedly, he released the tessen from it's holder and squinted his eyes. He couldn't read fluently, after all. The little kanji that he knew how to read were all thanks to all the late night learning sessions that he had with Chichiri and Chiriko in the library whenever he can.

"Who is it?" Chiriko asked, barely contained excitement in his voice.

"Will you be patient?" Tasuki said, leaning to peer closer on the page. 'I think it's Ki- no, Thi-, Chi? Yeah, I think that first character means Chi…"

Chiriko waited patiently for what was doomed to happen next.

"Ah! I got it!" Tasuki exclaimed, triumph in his voice. "It's Chichiri! So the person that I hadn't burned at all because I completely love him is Chichiri!"

At this, Chiriko immediately burst into uncontrollable giggles and Tasuki looked at him in annoyance. "What?"

Then, a choked gasp coming from Chichiri's direction diverted Tasuki's attention and he looked at the monk, only to see his face redder than he had ever seen it before.

Chiriko finally recovered from his fit and he grinned widely. "What was that you said about only the people you completely love are those that you hadn't flamed?"

It was then that Tasuki finally got the implications of what he just said. He looked at Chiriko, who had resumed laughing, then he looked at the thrice bedamned notebook in his hands. Then very slowly, he turned to look at the monk sitting on the bed, who was trying very hard not to look back at him.

"Fuck."

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TO BE CONTINUED

Author's Notes: Now, the fun really starts! What was the flash of color that Chichiri saw? Why was Chiriko screaming? What had happened to Kazumi? Will Tasuki just come right out and just confess to Chichiri? (^___^) I'll try to get the next chapter out soon.


End file.
